


Sunrises & Sunsets

by stxrwxrs



Series: Elements of War [2]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: AtLA AU, Bending (Avatar), F/M, Fluff, Healthy Relationships, Inspired by Avatar: The Last Airbender, but angela can handle herself ok, genji just wants to make sure angela is ok, they're bickering parents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-15
Updated: 2017-04-15
Packaged: 2018-10-19 00:32:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10628430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stxrwxrs/pseuds/stxrwxrs
Summary: Fire melts ice, water heals the soul. First without her people, now without her home.An attack on the North Pole leaves more questions than answers.





	

**Author's Note:**

> AAAA i'm so excited to write for this au. 
> 
> to clear up some ?'s-  
> Angela & Ana are waterbenders, Genji is a firebender, Hana is a earthbender, Lucio & Zen are airbenders. Efi's a wildcard.

 The sun sets in the Earth Kingdom, leaving behind only darkness in its wake. Nothing is safe, nothing is forgotten. Such is every day on the planet, whether high above in the northern islands, or the polar south. Genji knows this and the peace that comes with it.

 

“If we don’t pick up the pace,” comes the irritated voice of the young earth bender, Hana Song, ”McCree is going to find my stash of pau buns and eat them all.”

 

“Not if he cracks open Rein’s lychee juice first,” Lucio laughs, “that’ll sack him out for the rest of the night.”

 

“Hush, both of you,” comes the stern, yet soft voice of Ana Amari.

 

  The group, completely unrecognizable as anything other than Earth Kingdom peasants slowly make their way through the city, arms full of groceries and clothes meant only for vagabonds and humble men. It's become an easy routine, liberate the villages still held hostage by Fire Nation uprisings, leave no evidence, stay on the move. There is no time for a quiet life, not with the rise of more and more terror groups ransacking in entire kingdom. 

 

Lucio elbows the girl beside him, “she started it.” The confession is met with an incline in his path that certainly wasn’t there before; Hana laughs as he trips, waving his arms frantically to regain balance. “Earth benders,” he rolls his eyes.

 

“Listen to your elder,” the scarf covering Genji’s face does not keep Angela from imagining the grin underneath.

 

“Who’re you calling elder?” Reinhardt’s voice echos off every city wall, leaving behind very confused neighbors. So much for subtlety. 

 

_“...the Fire Lord is planning to wipe out another one…”_

 

“Maybe you should watch your-”

 

“Wait,” Angela stops, placing a hand over the young earthbender’s lips, “listen, do you hear that?”

 

_“...go to such troubles for a nonexistent child.”_

 

Genji pauses, his gaze shifting from the waterbender to the alley behind them, “what is it, Angela?”

 

“ _I heard they only think it should be ten years old…possibly hiding in the north...”_

 

“There are two women behind us, they just said something about the avatar,” at this everyone stops and clings to the fences or walls beside them, the air becomes dead quiet. They haven't had enough time, all they need is more time. 

 

_“...Mena told me that the capitol has been completely destroyed, they melted it straight into the ocean. They were already a dying people, but this, this could mean extinction.”_

 

_“First they burned the Air Temples, and now the the ice caps… does that mean they’ll come for us next?”_

 

_“Until they find the avatar, we can never be truly safe.”_

 

 Angela goes pale, her eyes dart to the man beside her, whose gaze is transfixed on the moon hovering above. Her fingers roll back and forth across the water skin at her hip, feeling the movement beneath the material, it keeps her steady.  _They melted it straight into the ocean_ ,  _melted._ Angela's body goes cold as she envisions face after face of her people, all struck down, all gone. 

 

“Efi,” Hana whispers, her mind racing a mile a minute, exchanging a look with the airbender beside her.

 

“Ana,” Angela turns, “do you-”

 

“No,” she shakes her head, putting a hand to her temple, her eyes fluttering closed, “I would have felt it.”

 

 _The Fire Nation has slain the Northern Water Tribe, the Northern Water Tribe is gone._ Angela's heart rate begins to steadily increase, her hands now clammy and cold.  _The last medic of the Northern Water Tribe._

 

 The threads connecting Angela’s mind to her body unravel, and she doesn’t realize what’s happening until her lungs burn for air and her legs ache. She looks around, the city now a blur moments away. She gasps for air, the chill riding the wind seemingly stealing more of her breathe than it provides, but still she pushes onward. The light belows her bring her back, she’s standing alone on the hill that divides Ba Sing Se from their temporary and makeshift camp. Still, there is no satisfaction to be found in her mind, there is farther to go. Farther north.

 

“Angela!” the voice comes from behind, steady and metallic. He’s concerned, she recognizes that tone, without a doubt chased after her but no trace of the same sprint to be found in his breathing patterns.

 

The waterbender circles her panting form with her arms, her head turned away from the man approaching her. _Something’s not right, something’s not right._

 

“Angela,” he repeats, this time soft, gentle, “do you need to be alone?” _Do you want me here with you?_

 

Her head shifts to the side and the familiar feeling of two arms wrap around her body, resting himself over her own limbs that still grip her body.

 

“It was just a rumor,” he whispers to the wind, “the Fire Nation, they want their people to believe they truly are the most powerful nation. Even after they eradicated the monks, we find more and more everyday.” _You found Zenyatta, you found me._

 

“It’s different, Genji,” her voice is hoarse from the fears built upon each other and shoved down her throat. She takes a deep breath in, finally gaining composure and control over her body. “I apologize, I should not have taken off so suddenly-”

 

Genji shakes his head, pulling her closer, “they are your people and it is your home.”

 

“ _Efi_ ,” she says, as if remembering her for the first time, “we need to find her and make sure she knows they’re raiding the nations again.”

 

“The others are talking to her right now.”

 

"If Jack was here-" she lets the words hang in the air.  _If Jack was here, he would know what to do._

 

 The air between them goes quiet, both letting the realization of what this means wash over them. History repeats itself, this is well known through the nations, and Angela can’t help but let her mind wander to the realization that this is another act of terror the Overwatch Order has failed to prevent. Wasn’t that the point? All those years ago, the burning of the temples, the destruction of an entire people, the cries of benders and non-benders alike to bring the Order to an end.  _This is why we left._

 

She can hear Morrison’s last words to her in her head, they wrap around her mind and hold her tightly like a serpent stealing the life from her.

 

“We should have been there, I should have been there,” she whispers.

 

“That’s not fair, Angela,” Genji leans his forehead to the crown of her head, “you were needed here too.”

 

The waterbender exhales, “I’m wasting time, we need to go.”

 

The firebender leans away, deciding instead to simple grasp her hand and begins leading her back to their temporary home, “we should discuss it together with everyone else.”

 

 Angela and Genji waste no time in joining the rest of the group, finding Efi and Lucio already going back and forth on the dangers coming for the Earth Kingdom, debating where any safety is left. _There is none, not anymore._

 

“We don’t know the extent of the damage,” Lucio fiddles with marbles made of the atmosphere in his fingers, “I wouldn’t put it past the Fire Nation to try and turn the Northern Water Tribe into a puddle but-” all eyes turn to the newcomers.

 

“Angie,” Jesse announces, concern twisted on his face.

 

 Angela is a healer, she has always felt the water’s shifting waves at her core, has let it push and pull within her. She can feel the tides in her hands, especially when bringing flesh back together under a full moon. Yet here, standing in front of her closest friends, her family, she feels like drowning.

 

“I’m leaving for the north at dawn ,” she says. It’s not a request.

 

Genji puts a hand on her shoulder, “I’m coming with you.”

 

“No,” Angela shifts her balance, “they need support and help, not more war.”

 

“If the Fire Nation truly has invaded, they’d be completely outnumbered,” Reinhardt provides from where he sits facing their campfire, the light illuminating half of this face dramatically.

 

Ana nods slowly, “Angela, Reinhardt, Zenyatta, and I will go. If it is truly as out of control as we hear, we will send word for you four. They will need medical assistance above anything, with their healer being gone.”

 

“Captain Amari, I mean no disrespect but it is foolish to assume the Fire Nation is not prepared for another full out war starting with this attack,” Genji comes closer to the group, looking from Jesse to Zenyatta for support.

 

“They wouldn’t dare, not after the-” Jesse starts, cutting himself off before glancing quickly at the monk across from him. _After the Nomad Bloodbath. Not after Gabe._

 

“I know the military" a pause, "I know the royal family.” Genji sighs, “I know what they are capable of and this sounds like the beginning of another uprising.”

 

Chills begin to run down spines as everyone remembers the last time, the casualties, the sacrifice. It hasn’t been long enough, they are some still in mourning. "This is why we need the order," Reinhardt says, maybe just to himself. 

 

Angela steps forward, “this is a mercy mission. There is no other way until the people there are safe.”

 

“Why can’t I go?” Efi stands, searching the faces around her, “after all they are looking _for me.”_

 

“No,” comes the strong reply from both Angela and Genji, who spend only a moment to look to the avatar before meeting each other’s stone gaze.

 

Efi furrows her brow, gesturing to those sitting beside her “you all keep telling me that the world needs to know the avatar has returned! Why not now?”

 

Jesse looks from Genji to Angela, the three of them easily falling into their habit of communicating without words.

 

“How am I going to master waterbending if I can’t learn and practice it?” she crosses her arms over her chest, “Orisa agrees with me, right?”

 

Efi’s companion wrings her hands in silence.

 

“Let her go,” Jesse says, keeping his eyes trained on the other two leaders of the group, “ya said it yourself, Ang, the world needs to know.”

 

Hana opens her mouth to speak but Lucio’s palm on her elbow silences her, giving her a look of _“not now,"_ which she disdains but understands. 

 

The fire cracks, providing the only source of light. “Efi and I will go,” Genji stands still, “she can work with you and Zen while Reinhardt covers you. It would help the people there to know the avatar is working to help them."

 

"And you, Genji?" Ana features no bias in her expression. 

 

"You and I will scope out the full influence of the Fire Nation.”

 

“It’s not a bad plan, Angela,” Jesse drawls out, poking the flames with a stick he’s scavenged off the earth.

 

Angela bites her lip, giving Jesse a hard stare before turning back to the man beside her, “this is my home, Genji, I will not let myself be held accountable for fighting fire with fire in it, and I mean that quite literally,” she stares him down before turning back to the rest of the group, “we leave at daybreak.”

 

She takes off without another word, making a straight path for the riverbank only a few paces away from her tent. It has become one of the only places she can call her own. It is her solitude.

 

The current is gentle, letting the inhabitants of the stream move at their own pace, it is a gentle scene. Angela stands, her shoes discarded, as deep as she can go without submerging her skirt and rolled up trousers. She leans down to cup the water in her hand, then raises her hand, commanding the clear liquid to delicately follow the motion.

 

Her hand expands and curls with each breath, resulting in small ripples surrounding her figure.

 

 _“Mizu_ ,” his voice travels through the air quickly, despite its softness.

 

“Yes, Genji?”

 

“Let me come with you,” he takes a few steps towards her, hovering the line of being too close and too far.

 

 She steps back up to the riverbank, pulling stubborn droplets of water off her legs and toes with a simple flick of the wrist. Angela meets his gaze, he’s taken his chest plate and helmet off now, donned in the traditional Air Nomad robe given to him as a gift. It suits him, she had decided that pretty quickly the first time he had worn it around her.

 

“It feels wrong,” he confesses, “I feel partially responsible-”  
  
“Why?” she furrows her brow, knowing full well what demon he’s wrestling with, “we have been over this.”

 

“I cannot allow myself to sit back and let my people attack and destroy yours, it is too much, Angela.”

 

“You are not the one calling their shots, Genji, I don’t understand why you must constantly put this on your shoulders alone,” she turns back to the stream.

 

Genji pursues her, reaching for her, “I want you to be safe.”  
  
“I can handle myself, Genji.”

 

“I know,” he tangles his fingers in her hair, letting the ambiance of the riverbank soothe him. “Angela, I just found you again, I cannot bear the thought of losing you.”

 

 She turns back to him at this, leaning into his chest, barely touching him, “we agreed we would put the needs of others above our own. Right now, I am needed there, but you are needed here, with Lucio and Hana and Jesse. There’s still work to be done for these villages.”

 

“I knew you would say that,” he rests his head on top of hers, “that doesn’t change the fact that I don’t like this.”

 

“You don’t have to,” she sighs.

 

She doesn’t know he’s pressed his lips against her temple until she hears the sound of the act echoing in her ear. He is gentle, and honest, and soft.

 

“If you’re not back in two weeks, I’m coming,” he bargains, bringing her closer.

 

“Three.”

 

“And I’m bringing Jesse.”

 

She swats him away, “the whole purpose of this was to get away from you two!” A soft smile plays on her lips as she teases him, doing her best to find the light in any situation and bring it forward.

 

“And here I was thinking you enjoyed my presence, Mizu,” he grabs for her again and pulls her into his side, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “You should rest,” he says after a moment of stillness, “you’ll need all of your strength.”

 

Angela reaches for his face, cupping his cheek in her hand, “I promise I’ll be back before you know it.”

 

“As if I won’t already be thinking of you every passing moment,” he ruffles her hair and leans down to truly kiss her, “please be safe.” _I love you._

 

She runs her thumb up and down his face, creating a soothing pattern that could easily put him to sleep, “alright.” _I love you too._

 

It’s too soon to say the words dancing on their tongues; those words are not for this moment, somewhere, someday, but not now, not here.

 

He squeezes her tightly in one last embrace before letting go and drifting away, grabbing what he can of her hand until they are too far apart. She smiles at him one last time before ducking into her tent. _Goodnight, sparrow._

 

Genji doesn’t stop walking until he finds himself in front of his master’s own tent, realizing he has too much on his mind to sleep, he seeks out meditation instead.

 

“You’re troubled,” comes the balanced voice of one of the last known airbenders, “sit, my pupil.”

 

 The atmosphere is calm and Genji easily slips back into a from time many months ago, before they had become anything more than two men traveling from village to village seeking peace. “I cannot stop thinking about this mission, master, something about it does not sit well with me,” he exhales.

 

“Do you trust Miss Ziegler’s judgement?”

 

“I trust Angela with my life,” he looks down at the metallic remains of the lower half of his body, “I suppose it’s worked out well so far.”  

 

Zenyatta nods, letting Genji hear himself and slowly come to think on it.

 

“Master, promise me you’ll watch out for her. She is strong… but she is also ambitious and stubborn, and I fear that will be her strength and her weakness.”

 

“I am quite fond of her myself, you know,” Genji swears he hears a tone of amusement in the man’s voice, “we can never know where our path will go, but I am certain yours will not end without her, Genji.”

 

The firebender rubs at his eyes, feeling the burdens of the day making him more and more weary, “I don’t quite understand, master.”

 

“Patience and trust,” he smiles before settling down, “now it is time to rest.”

  


The sun rises in the Earth Kingdom, the day breaking with uncertainty.

 

Nothing is safe, nothing is forgotten.

 

Angela rises, lazily tossing her hair up above her head in a ponytail before pulling her long-neglected parka and water skin over her body. Today is a homecoming, one she has been anticipating and dreading since the moment she left.

 

She is greeted first by Reinhardt, who is cheerily loading the saddle of Orca, the pet whale eagle passed down to him after- _after Jack died._

 

“Good morning, Reinhardt,” she mummers, not wanting anyone beyond those necessary to be awoken at this hour, “don’t forget the blankets and sack of bandages.”

 

“Of course not!” He grins as Ana places extra food rations into her pack.

 

“Feeling alright, Angela?” the older woman studies her face. Angela nods with a sober smile and ducks away from the group, choosing instead to double check that she has everything.

 

She’s running through a million scenarios in her mind when she feels it, a gentle twitch behind her head, and then her entire hair falling down and into her face.

 

“You should be asleep,” she turns around to find him staring at her, no trace of exhaustion in his eyes. _I’m glad you’re here._

 

“You should be going,” he refutes before motioning her to spin around, which she does without complaint. _Please come back._

 

 It’s their morning routine, after his meditation and after her exercises, they sit and eat breakfast with everyone else. Then, after the group begins clearing out, he will lean over and try to braid her hair, which never seems to work out quite right, but it’s something that is _so him_ she can’t bring herself to take it down.

 

He works in silence this morning as opposed to their usual time spent filled with lighthearted jokes, perhaps that’s for the best right now.

 

“Angela,” Ana approaches, her own traditional Southern Water Tribe parka hanging down her form, “we are ready to go.”

 

“Thank you, Ana,” she smiles, letting Genji quickly tie her hair together, still gentle, always gentle, before standing.

 

“Angela,” what can he say?

 

“Keep everything here held down, okay?” she smiles, but there is little joy behind it. “I don’t want to come back and find out you let Hana finally kill Jesse.”  


He exhales in a sign of laughter, “I will do my best.”

 

They pause, looking at each other until Angela steps up, throwing her arms around Genji and pulling him close. “I’ll be back soon.”  

 

He wraps his arms around her, pressing his face into her neck, “I know.” Leaning back to press a kiss to her forehead, she smiles, “not even the entire Fire Nation calvary can stand against you.”

 

Warmth spreads to her cheeks as she steps out of the embrace, giving him one last glance before turning to join her team.

 

“Be safe,” Genji whispers, to no one in particular.

  
_I love you._

 

Efi waves to Genji from her place on top of Orca, smiling despite the fact that even she knows this mission is risky. Still, Genji waves back before slipping his mask on and turning to overlook the path leading back home. He moves quickly, hoping he can at least get through the city before Jesse can find his note.


End file.
